Michael Swickard's new novel about New Mexico

NewsNM Swickard - I'm with MADD - zero point zero is the only reading that makes sense. From KOB-TV.com - by Joseph Lynch, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Right now if you get pulled over with a .08 Blood Alcohol Content or higher, you go to jail.

But the NTSB wants to drop that limit even lower. If it was up to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a point zero- zero behind the wheel is the would be the only acceptable blood alcohol level. The group said what the NTSB is proposing is a step in the right direction. The agency would like to see the national standard point .08 brought down to .05, but it's just a recommendation. Sonia Lopez of MADD New Mexico says it's never easy. "Every time that we do some type of legislation or policy we always get - We always get opposition from the alcohol industry and from the restaurant association." To become law, the recommendation would have to be passed by New Mexico Lawmakers and signed by our governor. Rio Rancho Police Seargant Nichlaus Onkyn says a lower BAC will lead to more arrests at DWI checkpoints. And even if you blow less than a .05, that doesn't mean you're off the hook. "If we are able to determine that an individual is truly intoxicated and that they are impaired due to their consumption of alcohol or drugs, it doesn't matter the amount of alcohol or drugs in their system." According to the DWI Resource Center in Albuquerque, the average person who is arrested for DWI has a BAC of .16 Read more

Albuquerque is on another top ten list and unlike
some, this is one you want your town to be on.

The city is among the Top Ten Mid-sized American
Cities of the Future. The list is the product of
analysts from Foreign Direct Intelligence (FDI), with an international list of
business and banking clients.

Albuquerque is ranked ninth not too shabby for a
city that’s still struggling to recover from the recession.

FDI analyzes cities
all over the western hemisphere and ranks them for economic potential, human
resources, cost effectiveness, infrastructure, business-friendliness and
foreign direct investment potential.

Other cities in the top ten include New
Orleans, Louisiana, Richmond, Virginia, and Quebec City, Canada.

New Mexico Republican Rep. Steve Pearce has
introduced legislation to expand the mission of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
in Carlsbad.

Pearce says that because the plant is only tasked with handling
radioactive waste generated by the Department of Energy as part of a defense
mission, it is running out of material to process. And that will mean a loss of
jobs.

Pearce says that under his bill, there would be no change in what type of
waste WIPP handles. The site currently processes exposed materials like gloves,
clothing and tool, from federal facilities like Los Alamos National Laboratory.
But it would be allowed to accept transuranic waste from the federal government
as a whole.

Pearce says WIPP has demonstrated great success, safely removing
more than 85,000 cubic meters of waste from Department of Energy sites around
the country.

According to statistics maintained by the City of
Las Cruces, the city’s population surpassed the 100,000 mark as of April 1.

The
milestone was reached during the period between July 1, 2012 when the
population estimate was 99,665 and April 1, when the population was estimated
at 100,984.

According to Tom Murphy, MPO Officer for the Metropolitan Planning
Organization they estimate population by tracking building permits for housing
units. Housing units are identified as single family, multi family, townhouses
and triplexes.